Disclaimer: Still, totally not mine.

A/N: Wow, you guys! I never expected to get so many reviews so quickly! I didn't expect to get any at all, as the success rate of my first story... well... let's just say it was a bit of a flop. In any case, you guys totally had me crying I was so happy! I felt really, REALLY good after seeing that people DO like my writing and DO appreciate my writing style. Review Comments at the end!

BETA READER NEEDED...

Anyways, on with the story!!

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Hermione woke up feeling quite warm, snuggled under her blankets. Blankets? She sat up, blinking in the bright light and look around her room. Strangely enough, she couldn't remember going to bed. I must have been half-asleep or something... She reasoned with herself before she climbed out of bed. It was clearly a mistake, as a wave of dizziness and exhaustion hit her in one large wave, and she fell back onto the bed. What's wrong with me? She wondered. Her stomach growled and she winced, realizing that she hadn't eaten in at least 3 or 4 days. She would have eaten something, but there was no time to eat. It's not as if she didn't want to eat; on the contrary, she would have absolutely loved diving into a meal of eggs and bacon, a meal she had taken for granted for so many years. There just simply wasn't time with all of her classes, extra studies and prep work, the assignments that just kept piling up... and of course, she had to stay refreshed on all of her other spells and such, so she spent most of her time holed up in her room or in the library where she read old books and new books into the late hours of the night. It was a highly demanding schedule, seeing as how she got almost no interaction with her friends, or anyone at all for that matter, and she could almost feel the dreaded exhaustion that threatened to strike her down. If she forgot to one assignment... forgot to write one essay... Hermione shuddered at the thought. Her pile of homework would continue to grow and grow, and soon, there wouldn't be time for anything at all—which meant the precious few hours of sleep she got every night.

Hermione winced at the sound of knocking on her door, a pounding headache ailing her. "Come in!" She called hoarsely. The door opened to reveal Malfoy, his face slightly bored-looking.

"Breakfast just started." Her said monotonously. Some of his smooth silver-blonde hair fell over one eye, hiding it from view, but the visible eye continued to reveal no emotion whatsoever, giving him a dark appearance.

"Thank you," She said uneasily. "I'll—er—just get ready then." She swung her legs over the side of the bed just as he turned to leave. Shakily, Hermione tried to get up, but the dizziness overwhelmed her and she crumpled to the ground. She crashed into her nightstand on the way down, sending it and the books atop it crashing down on her. A strangled cry escaped her lips, but she shook it off and pushed the books and nightstand off of herself. Struggling, she stood up and walked towards the bathroom. When she tripped, a voice stopped her.

"You know, if you'd actually eat something once in a while, you wouldn't be nearly killing yourself just to get to the bathroom." She turned to see Malfoy looking in on her, his voice dripping with contempt. He flipped his hair away from his eye and she raised an eyebrow.

"Since when do you care if I kill myself?" She asked, brushing a curl of her dark hair from her eye. He raised an eyebrow back at her.

"Did I say I cared?" He asked, a smirk playing at his lips. She glared at him and rummaged through her drawers to find clothes to wear.

"You never said that you didn't." He gave her an amused stare and chuckled at the comment.

"I think I've told you and your idiotic friends several times over the years how much I despise you. Or have you forgotten already, Granger?" When she gave no reply, his face grew serious. "Let me remind you: I couldn't care less about your well-being, nor your pitiful excuse for a life. I hate you and I hate your friends with every fiber of my being." Hermione glared at him.

"The feeling's mutual, Malfoy." She retorted. He shrugged and continued to stare at her. His piercing gaze was making Hermione uncomfortable, so she turned away and continued to search her drawers for clothing. When she had found clean robes and other suitable clothes to wear, she started to look back to the door where Malfoy was standing.

"Could you leave now?" She asked, turning to find him already gone. Her door had been shut noiselessly, and she rolled her eyes. How she hated him, the bloody git. Since when did he tell her what to do? She'd eat whenever she damn well felt like it, and no one, especially not him, could tell her otherwise! Her stomach growled again, and she glared at nothing in particular. "Did I say I wasn't going to eat?" She said loudly. "I only said that I wouldn't let him order me around!" The headache intensified rather quickly, and Hermione grabbed her head, rubbing her sore temples. It was going to be a long day.

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Making his way down to the Great Hall for breakfast, Draco let a short laugh escape his lips. Him? Care for Granger? She really was bloody insane. It was just ridiculous how weak she was now, and he absolutely hated weakness—unless, of course, it worked in his favor. Unfortunately, watching Granger waste away to nothing really didn't do anything except make Potter and Weasley mope, and that wasn't worth getting excited over. What she was doing to herself truly surprised him; Draco didn't think that someone so smart could do something so stupid as to not eat.

Once he had reached the Great Hall, he spotted Blaise eating and moved quickly to talk to him. Blaise, however, saw him first and left immediately. Scowling, Draco took his usual seat at the Slytherin table next to Pansy Parkinson. She smiled at seeing him and he muttered a quick hello before piling food onto his plate.

"Draco, are you alright?" He swallowed his eggs and turned to her. Her dark hair was held up in a tight ponytail and her pug-ish face was covered in makeup. Though Draco was much more fond of natural beauty, he saw nothing wrong in trying to look better, even if it was all artificial. Pansy wasn't very pretty without makeup, but she looked quite nice with it on, and that's all that really mattered. "Draco?" She asked again, and stopped his train of thought. He nodded before returning to his breakfast. "What's wrong with Blaise? Are you two in a fight?" Draco rolled his eyes.

"I have no idea. I think he's still mad at me over a conversation we had yesterday morning. It's a bit childish to avoid me, but he'll forget about it soon enough." He drawled, sounding extremely bored. Pansy nodded and returned to her breakfast.

"Hey Draco, what's with Granger?" He heard Adrian Pucey ask him. Draco was becoming more and more annoyed at the constant interruptions from his breakfast and just shrugged in response. "She looks like she's going to die or something—not that I'd mind." A few other Slytherins sniggered, and Draco looked up to see her stumbling into the Great Hall. Her hair was pulled into a messy ponytail, a few loose curls near her temples tucked behind her ears, and she was walking shakily towards Gryffindor Table. Her skin looked a bit better—Probably from the sleep she got last night, Draco thought; it wasn't quite as wasted looking as it had been the night before. Right then, she turned to look at him, and she glared. He sneered at her and, sticking her nose in the air, she walked the rest of the way to the table, sitting down next to Potter and Weasley. Disgusted, Draco returned to his breakfast.

'Unbearable little bookworm...'

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'Arrogant bastard...' Hermione thought angrily. That was the first crude conversation they had had all year (which had to break some sort of record), and Hermione bristled at the thought of him telling her how much he hated her. All of the times he had called her a 'mudblood' suddenly flooded back into her memory, and she felt tears well up in her eyes. Of course, she had never let on how much the insult had hurt her, but it still had hurt nevertheless. She was proud of her muggle heritage, and hearing other people call her filthy as a result of her parents—well, it was ridiculous and not something she could help.

"Hermione, are you going to eat something?" Hermione snapped her head up and looked at Ron who looked genuinely concerned.

"Yes, I..." She looked at the other students who were just finishing up their breakfasts. With a sigh, Hermione gathered her books up and stood to leave.

"You're not going to go without eating again are you?" Harry asked sounding displeased. Hermione grimaced and looked at him and Ron.

"Class is going to start soon, I can't eat right now." When they began to protest, she held up a hand. "I promise I'll eat at lunch, but I've really got to get to class; I need to check over my essay one last time before we hand it in." Ron and Harry exchanged worried looks and she shut her eyes tightly before letting out an exasperated sigh. "Would you two please stop worrying about me? I'm fine, I really am! It's just stress and schoolwork..." Seeing that she was getting nowhere with them, she made a quick exit from the Great Hall.

'First class... first class is... Why can't I remember?' A deep fog was penetrating her brain, and her vision was becoming rather hazy. 'Potions? No... Transfiguration? Arithmancy?' The hallway was slowly spinning, so she held a hand out and grabbed a suit of armor for balance. 'Transfiguration... I've got to get to McGonagall's class...' Hermione staggered through the halls, up the several staircases, and finally reached McGonagall's classroom. Stumbling in, she took her usual seat near the front of the room and pulled out her perfectly written essay—which also happened to be two feet longer than it was actually required to be.

"Ms. Granger?" Hermione looked up to see Professor McGonagall staring worriedly at her.

"Yes, Professor?" Her voice was quite weak and unfortunately, McGonagall noticed. She pursed her lips and gave her a very serious look.

"Are you feeling alright?" She asked. Hermione nodded.

"I'm fine, Professor—a bit tired, is all." McGonagall nodded, but Hermione could see the disbelief in her facial expression.

"If you're sure..." She walked away when Hermione didn't respond. Moments later, the class was filled with chattering students. Harry and Ron sat on either side of her, and class began. McGonagall stared at them all, a very serious look on her face.

"Today, we shall be learning how to transfigure particles in the air into objects—for example." She said very clearly, "Vetis Avactus!" and with a flick of her wand, a hat appeared on her desk. Hermione was finding it difficult to concentrate, what with her horrible headache and her clouded mind. "Class, repeat after me: Vetis Avactus."

There was a loud chorus of the spell being mispronounced and butchered, and McGonagall silenced them and repeated the words of the spell. After several tries, everyone in the class finally pronounced it correctly, and McGonagall showed them the proper way to flick their wand: Start at a 90 degree angle and quickly flick your wrist until it is exactly 135 degrees in front of you. McGonagall had them all practice flicking their wands and came around to check and help correct them. "Stand up!" She announced when all of them had been checked over. "Now, picture a feather very clearly in your mind—very clearly! Then, while flicking your wand, say the spell, 'Vetis Avactus'." Hermione stood up slowly with the rest of the class, and tried to concentrate on a feather, but nothing was coming to mind. The world grew into a blurry haze, and Hermione succumbed to the darkness.

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Draco was busy performing his spell when Granger collapsed to the floor, but he stopped once everyone else gasped in shock. Looking around confused, he weaved his way through the crowd and saw Granger, passed out on the ground.

"Out of my way!" He heard McGonagall shout, and she shoved aside a few of the students. She knelt down to Hermione and checked her pulse. Somewhat satisfied, she stood up, muttered a spell, and Hermione was lifted off of the floor, floating beside her. "Class dismissed!" She hurried out of the classroom with Hermione floating behind her, and Harry and Ron gathered theirs and Hermione's things before running out after her. Draco, however, gathered his own things up before heading back to the Head's common room; at least he'd have some peace now that Granger was sick. 'Besides,' he thought, 'I'll be able to really perfect that spell—I'll never get anywhere on it in the library.
With that final thought, Draco walked down several staircases before wandering down a very long, narrow hallway. The walls were covered in paintings of all sorts; talking, moving portraits, landscapes with animals that moved, wind that rustled the leaves of trees, and water that actually moved. There were articles and pictures praising the school from the Daily Prophet up there as well; Draco didn't find that at all interesting, because his father used to do the same thing at home whenever the paper mentioned the Malfoys. He went up one final staircase and came to a portrait of an elderly woman in a very fine gown.

"Password?" She asked in an almost stern voice.

"Unity." Draco said dully. The portrait opened and Draco climbed through it into the common room. The Head's common room was preferable to the school common rooms, and not just because of the peace and quiet (the lack of other schoolmates made studying much easier). As much as Draco hated to admit how much he liked anything, he did truly like this room. It had a very warm, welcoming feeling to it that the Slytherin common room lacked. Though decorated in warm, red, Gryffindor tones (much to his distaste), it was also covered in rich silver that seemed to do the Slytherins justice. The room seemed very elegant, what with its beautiful mahogany staircases and upper landing, along with a small balcony and 3 large bookshelves crammed with books. He smirked, remembering Granger's squeal of delight at her first sight of the books; that girl wore her emotions on her sleeve, her thoughts always easy to interpret. It was another sign of weakness, and it was one of the first things Draco had been taught by his father to despise.

One of the unique features of the Head's common room was the fact that two huge staircases and a wall didn't separate their rooms. Maybe it was because Dumbledore trusted his 7th Year Head's, or maybe it was simply because he figured they'd be too mature and busy to try anything. 'And hasn't practically every Head Boy and Girl hated each other? God knows Granger and I do.' Draco thought. In any case, there were two curved staircases that led up to the same landing with a door on the opposite sides of it. On his door, the words "Head Boy: Draco Malfoy" gleamed in gold letters, and the letters on her door read "Head Girl: Hermione Granger." Glaring at her name, he planted himself on the leather couch facing the fireplace. Draco pulled out his Transfiguration book and began studying the spell he had been learning only 20 minutes ago.

After a half an hour of studying, Draco started to doze off, his mind wandering towards thoughts of Granger. Why wasn't she eating? Why wasn't she ever with Potter or Weasley? Why was she putting herself through as much stress as she had been? With a jolt, he fully realized who it was he had been thinking about. Draco closed his eyes, trying to block her out, but her pale, wasted body only swam through his head, still tainting his thoughts. He began massaging his temples, trying to rid himself of her image, but she wouldn't leave. 'As stubborn in my head as in real life...' He thought angrily. 'Damn it, Granger—why can't you just be normal for once! Just get out of my head!'

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LadyCocoMy first reviewer! Thank you so much for your compliments, I truly appreciate them! I will continue (seeing as how people actually like this one... :). ) to write this story!

LadyMalfoy730: I tried really hard to keep all of them in character--guess who was the hardest? Malfoy. It was so hard to a) keep him the same, but mature him at the same time b) keep his thoughts and speaking habits realistic and c) making him a believeable character. I never believed that he would be so hard to write but surprise! surprise! he's difficult to write for. But I do love a good challenge and will definitely continue writing this story!

PhyscoChick991: I'm glad you're enjoying my story, and I will definitely be checking out your story

CherryPieKitten: Thank you for the gold star--I'll keep it here always grins!

marauderbabe289: No, Hermione isn't anorexic. In fact, she hates how horrible and thin she looks. The problem is (as described in this chapter) that she doesn't believe that she has the TIME to eat (which is ridiculous, but she's having a nervous breakdown and suffering from constant stress). I'm glad you're enjoying my story!

Christine (AKA Weeny): Why am I replying to your review when I'll just see you tomorrow at school? Lol-- I'll try to keep the muses around a little while longer... laughs

giggleboxsam: Thank you for your criticism--it is the only thing that will help me improve as an author (other than, of course, the lovely compliments that encourage me to write lol). I completely forgot to describe the Head's Common Room in the first chapter, so I can understand your confusion about the staircase. You see, if he had wanted to, it would have been very simple for Draco to just walk up his own staircase and into Hermione's room--the staircases end up on the same landing. Thank you for pointing that out--I'm sure others would be confused too! Also, as shown in this chapter, Draco is in no way comforting Hermione--in fact, he's a bit of an ass to her. But Harry and Ron are trying... I'll bring them up more. Thank you for helping me make my story more believeable!

Thank you so much to all of my other reviewers: ThePatternInTheIvy, Heather, Lani, Parcheezie, Sally, breziebear, KeeperofthePineNeedles (I like your name, btw.. lol), Burnt Reflections, OceanGuardian, christianchick29303, Arianth, stinkyirma, ProwlingKitKat, anafics, Narci-babe15, and PhyscoChick991! Please, keep reviewing--it makes me write faster, heh.

BETA READER NEEDED--TELL ALL YOUR FRIENDS!!